Course Blog 10: Jennifer to Iris

Iris is using her blog, “Imaginary Circumstances,” as a way to chart her search for information and insight. She catalogues concepts that she’s encountered, words she’s learned, and her reactions to new art forms (opera).

Early on, Iris posted a wonderful response to Debord in which she compared his ideas regarding society and isolation to a Japanese toy flower called a Hanappa. Here, she was indirectly considering the idea of scriptivity, even before we had read about it. She discussed the way in which the Hanappa asked its owner to talk to and interact with it in order for it to “flourish.” (She also has a developing fascination with chairs as things, which I’ll discuss in a moment.)

Similarly, Iris has used this blog as a way to categorize her own responses to our readings. Each reading or performance scripts her reflection on her past experience as an actress, present experience as a student and playwright, and personal reaction as an empathetic human being. She follows this script by recording her reactions, considering them carefully, and noting any changes in her perspective. There is clearly an interaction between Iris’ conceptual development and the readings. For example, here is part of her entry on The Exonerated:

Worthen talked about using the theater to make meaning out of chaos, but I see no meaning here. I just see sadness. I feel that my job as a reader is not to make meaning out of this, but to experience the sadness, the sheer wrongness, of it all. In that way, I feel like "The Exonerated" doesn't really function as a play at all. It's another forum on tragedy.

Note that she first reflects on the ideas from the author (returning to an earlier concept), then uses her personal response to lead her into a consideration of other concepts we’ve discussed (audience responsibility), then to reevaluate her personal response, and she concludes with a considered statement integrating both.

At times, I think Iris knows that there are elements of the reading that are important to her, but she isn’t ready to fully integrate them into her worldview yet, so she copies out a quote, sometimes considers it, and sometimes lets it stand on its own merits. She probably returns to the quotations and considers them in light of the new ideas we uncover (see how she brings Worthen back in the earlier selection). Another example is how she is intrigued by Bernstein’s use of a chair to describe a person’s performance literacy and she also commented on States’ consideration of when chairs were first used on stage.   

I so enjoyed reading Iris’ blog all the way through – her thoughts on the readings, and her definitive reactions to the performances, were refreshing and enlightening. Thanks, Iris!